“Hallelujah!” We’ve already sung it several times and now I can say it: Hallelujah! It was that “h” word I referred to last Sunday when another “h” word – “Hosanna” – was the word of the day. “Hosanna”, you will recall, is a cry for help; it means “God save us.” That’s how we started off Holy Week – praying to God to save us, knowing that he, alone can save us. But this evening we can shout out “Hallelujah!” which means “Praise God!” We can, indeed, praise God because he has saved us through his son. He has saved us from darkness and fear, from sin and death. And, we can all really embrace this saving work as we continue to struggle in face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. We are living in fear, hiding behind closed doors and masked faces. There is a furtive mood in the grocery stores as we quickly go and get just what we need, afraid that we might not even find it on the empty shelves. We are living in fear for our lives and the lives of our loved ones.
The women who came to the grave that first Easter morning were afraid, too. As they were approaching the tomb, I’m sure they were afraid of being harassed by the Roman guards who were watching the tomb. But, their fear increased as the ground shook beneath them from the great earthquake we heard about in this evening’s gospel. They became even more fearful as an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled back the stone covering the tomb. As we hear in the gospel, his appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow – what a frightful description. The guards were shaken with fear – they became, as we hear in the Gospel, like dead men – and I’m sure the women were frightened out of their skin. But, then they heard the angel who said, “Do not be afraid!” It’s a phrase we hear from God or his angel throughout the Bible. God assured Jacob with “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt” when famine ravaged the land. When Moses was afraid as he encountered God in the burning bush, God assured him; “Do not be afraid; I will be with you.” When the Pharaoh’s chariots approached the fleeing Israelites and they turned to Moses in fear, he, in turn, assured them by
saying, “Do not fear! Stand your ground and see the victory the Lord will win for you today!” When the angel of God was sent to Joseph and to Mary to announce the birth of our savior, he assured each of them with, “do not be afraid.” When the disciples of Jesus cried out in fear as he approached them walking on water in the midst of a storm, he assured them, “Do not be afraid, it is I.” It’s a phrase we need to hear today, “do not be afraid, I am with you,” as the news about the pandemic seems to become more and more frightening every day. But, just as the news is giving us a glimmer of hope with the possibility of flattening the curve in various places, so the news that God or his angel gave these various people throughout salvation history was always filled with hope. The news the angel gave to the women at the tomb gave them more than just a glimmer of hope. “I know you are seeking Jesus. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.” They did not yet fully understand what being raised meant but this was certainly a message of hope that began to assuage their fear. Their fear was allayed even more when they met the risen Jesus. They embraced him and did him homage. And again, Jesus assured them, “Do not be afraid.”
In this evening’s reading from the letter to the Romans, we hear St. Paul assure the Christians in Rome – and us – that, “just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too might live in newness of life.” He goes on to proclaim, “if then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.”
The Easter message is a message of hope in the face of fear. It is an assurance that God always accompanies us, especially in our darkest hours. It is a promise that we who believe in Jesus and follow his way will be saved from death and live with him. That is our Easter cry; that’s why we can say, with full assurance, “Alleluia; praise God!” Like the women who went to the tomb, we too, are utterly amazed. And, we can rejoice for we know that Jesus is, indeed, raised from the dead. Death has no more power over him. Nor does it have power over us! Let us rejoice, for our Lord has risen and in him we have the power to live confidently here on earth – even in these fearful times – as we await the time we are called to everlasting life with him in heaven!